Intermittently edge crimped yarns and fabrics formed therefrom



Oct. 13, 1964 E. H. PITTMAN ETAL INTERMITTENTLY EDGE CRIMPED YARNS ANDFABRICS FORMED THEREFROM Original Filed Aug. 18, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 1INVENTOR. E. HENRY PITTMAN E. IDARI'E sou NG'ER 06h 1964 H. PlTTMAN ETAL3,152,435

INTERMITTENTLY EDGE CRIMPED YARNS AND FABRICS FORMED THEREFROM OriginalFiled Aug. 18, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. E. HENRY PITTMAN E. DAREBOLINGER United States Patent M 3,152,435 INTETTENTLY EDGE CED YARNS ANDFABRICS FURMED THEREEROM Edgar Henry Pittman and Edgar Dare Bolinger,Spartanburg, S.C., assignors to Bearing Millilren Research Corporation,Spartanhnrg, S. C., a corporation of Delaware Original application Aug.18, 1959, Ser. No. 834,517, new Patent No. 3,647,932, dated Aug. 7,1962. Divided and this application Nov. 20, 1961, Ser. No. 153,568

Claims. (@l. 57-14%) This application is a division of copendingapplication Serial Number 834,517, filed August 18, 1959, now US. PatentNo. 3,047,932.

This invention relates to novel intermittently elasticized yarn productsand more particularly to novel intermittently elasticized and bulkededge crimped thermoplastic yarns and fabric made from such yarns.

In order to produce various styling effects in fabrics, it is highlydesirable to employ a yarn having alternate elasticized or bulkedincremental lengths or segments and substantially unelasticizedincremental lengths or segments. We have found that such a yarn may beproduced from originally unelasticized continuous filament thermoplasticyarn in a continuous process by intermittently elasticizing the yarnduring linear advance of the yarn past an elasticizing medium.

In practicing the invention, one may employ an apparatus for producingthe novel intermittently elasticized and bulked yarn according to theinvention by employing a yarn edge-crimping device preferably in theform of a sharp-edged blade over which the yarn is advanced through arelatively sharp angle, and a yarn removal member which isintermittently moved to remove the yarn from contact with the treatingedge of the yarn-crimping device. The yarn removal member may preferablytake the form of an oscillating or reciprocating arm having a yarncontact surface of substantially larger radius of curvature than theradius of curvature of the sharp edge of the edge-crimping device, so asto effect substantially little or no elasticization of the yarn as itpasses thereby while the yarn removal member has the yarn removed fromthe edge-crimping device. While the invention may in some instances beemployed without the heating of the thermoplastic yarn, it is mostdesirable in order to provide permanent crimp in the yarn in theelasticized segments that the yarn be in a heated state while passingover the edge-crimping surface, which may be effected by a preheater inthe form of a yarn contact heater element over which the yarn passesprior to passing over the sharp edge of the edge-crimping blade in orderto heat the yarn up to a temperature between the second order and firstorder transition points for the particular yarn. The blade of theedge-crimping device is preferably considerably colder than the heatedyarn passing thereover.

Various features and attendant advantages will become apparent to oneskilled in the art from a reading of the following detailed descriptionof the invention wherein FIGURE 1 is a schematic view in perspective ofan apparatus for making a yarn according to the present invention, theapparatus being shown in elasticizing position.

FIGURE 2 is a schematic illustration of a portion of the apparatus ofFIGURE 1 showing the apparatus in nonelasticizing position.

FIGURES 3 and 4 are schematic illustrations in side and front elevationrespectively of a modified embodiment according to the invention, thedevice being shown in full line in the elasticizing position and inbroken lines in the nonelasticizing position.

FIGURE 5 is a schematic illustration of a length of fully developed yarnaccording to the invention.

3,l52,435 Patented 0st. 13, 1964 FIGURE 6 is a schematic plan or faceview illustration of a section of a fabric constructed of yarn accordingto the invention.

Referring now in detail to the figures of the drawings, in FIGURE 1 ayarn Y of continuous filament thermoplastic material or a blendincluding thermoplastic filaments, having any desired number offilaments, is fed from a suitable supply indicated at 11 throughsuitable guide means illustrated schematically at 13 and a tensionregulating device generally indicated at 14 to an intermittentelasticizing arrangement, generally indicated at 15. In the presentlyillustrated embodiment the elasticizing arrangement takes the form of asharp-edged razor blade 17, the sharp yarn treating edge 17a of whichhas a radius of curvature of approximately .0O02.003" (dependent uponthe denier of the yarn), and preferably has any surface roughnessremoved therefrom. The yarn is preheated through the medium of asuitable heater device which in the presently illustrated embodimenttakes the form of an electrically heated strip 19 of metal over whichthe yarn runs substantially immediately prior to engagement with thesharp edge 17a of the edge-crimping blade. The blade 17, heater strip19, and the guides 13 and 21 for guiding the yarn to and from the heaterstrip and blade are arranged with respect to each other so as to form asharp angular bend in the yarn as it proceeds over the edge of theblade, the yarn thus having both a small patent crimp and a relativelylarge permanent latent crimp formed therein by this passage over andfrom the blade or such other sharp-edged equivalent element. Afterpassage through the edge-crimping device the thus texturized yarn is fedalong a desired path to a suitable take-up arrangement generallyindicated at 23.

The latent crimp may be subsequently developed in any suitable mannereither prior to or after formation of a fabric therefrom, as by hotmoisture, hot air, or contact heater treatment, or by long standingexposure in a more or less relaxed state at normal room temperature orthe like.

As the yarn proceeds through the elasticizing device, it is periodicallymoved into and out of elasticizing position. To this end the yarn ismoved away from and into contact with the sharp edge 17a of the bladethrough the medium of an arm 25 loosely pivotally mounted on a pivot pinor shaft 27 which is suitably supported in any desired manner on asuitable support member 29 at one side of the edge crimping blade 17.While any suitable means may be employed for intermittently oscillatingthe yarn removal arm from its quiescent position as in FIG- URE 1 to itsactive position as shown in FIGURE 2, the illustrated embodimentincludes a rotatable eccentric 31 in the form of a collar 33 secured onthe drive shaft 34 of a motor (not shown) and having a short rod or pin35 suitably secured thereto as by welding in an eccentric position.Rotation of the motor shaft 34 causes the eccentric pin 35 to move theyarn removal arm 25 against the action of a return spring 37 to therebyremove the yarn from and replace the yarn onto the edge-crimping bladeedge 17a once for each rotation of the motor shaft. For a constant speedmotor it will thus be apparent that the yarn produced according to thisembodiment will have periodic non-random elasticized and unelasticizedyarn segments, the relative lengths of the alternate segments beingadjustable as by adjustably varying the position of the pivot axis ofthe shaft 27 and/ or the eccentric 31 to alter the ratio of yarn time onand off the blade edge 17a. In many instances it will be desirable tohave randomly spaced and random lengths of elasticized and unelasticizedyarn segments. In such case other suitable means may be employed formoving the yarn removal member in a random fashion.

The yarn-engaging edge 25a of the yarn removal arm 25 has a much largerradius of curvature (e.g., .030.l" or more) than that of the sharp edge17a of the crimping blade 17, in order that this yarn-engaging edgesurface a will effect considerably less and preferably substantiallylittle or no edge crimping of the yarn.

In the modified embodiment as illustrated in FIG- URE 3 the yarn is fedfrom a suitable supply source through an intermittent elasticizingarrangement 115 to a yarn takcup arrangement in a manner generallysimilar to the embodiment of FIGURE 1. In this embodiment the yarnproceeds over the heater strip 119 and edge-crimping blade 117 and isremoved from the blade edge 117a intermittently through the intermittentoscillation of a wire arm 125 having a transversely bent portion 125a ofrelatively large cross-sectional radius of curvature (e.g., forintermittently removing the yarn Y from the sharp edge-crimping edge 11%of the blade 117. This yarn removal arm 125 may be oscillated back andforth in any suitable manner, the present embodiment illustrating theemployment of a solenoid and return spring arrangement. The armature131a of the solenoid 131 is mechanically interconnected to a lever arm123 secured on a pivot shaft 127 to whici the yarn removal arm 125 isalso secured, thus forming in effect a bell crank lever arrangement. Inorder to provide for adjustment of the stroke of the yarn removal armthe lever arm 12? and the yarn removal arm 125 are preferably adjustablysecured to the pivot shaft 127 through the medium of set screw collars12.9, 13% to which the respective arms are secured as by welding. Areturn spring 137 is also connected in opposition to the solenoid, asbetween the lever arm 12% and a suitable fixed support 139. If desired asuitable stop or stops may be provided for limiting the movement of thelever arm, the active movement of the lever arm in the presentembodiment bein limited by the engagement of the armature with the endsof the solenoid casing.

The solenoid 131 may be intermittently actuated by any desiredintermittent signal generator 141 yielding signals of a desiredfrequency and duration. While any desired signal generator may beemployed for effecting electrical impulses to actuate the solenoid, weprefer in most cases that the signal generator 14-1 give a more or lessrandom signal output, although in some instances a particular patternoutput may be highly desirable in order to give a specific fabricpattern effect.

A length of fully developed yarn produced according to the invention isschematically illustrated in FIGURE 5, and in FIGURE 6 there is shown aschematic plan or face view of a section of a fabric constructed of yarnaccording to the invention. As generally schematically illustrated inFIGURE 5 it will be noted that the fully developed yarn Y according tothe invention has alternate incremental segments which are respectivelyelasticized and comparatively bulky or voluminous as indicated at 151and comparatively much less bulky or voluminous as indicated by thesubstantially straight filament sections designated by the numeral 153.The voluminous incremental segments are representative of the sectionsof the yarn which have been subjected to elasticizing and bulking byengagement with the sharp crimping edge surface 17a or 117a of theillustrative embodiments, whereas the comparatively straight lessvoluminous sections 153 represent the segments of yarn which have beenheld off the surface of the sharp edgecrimping edge 17a or 117a by theaction of the yarn removal member 25 or 125 in the present embodiments.While for illustrative purposes these alternate segments have been shownas substantially equal in length in FIGURE 5, it will be apparent fromthe teachings herein that one may readily vary the ratio of lengths ofthe elasticized and bulked incremental segments to the lengths of thesubstantially unelasticizcd and unbulked incremental segments. nus, insome instances it may be desirable to employ relatively long elasticizedand bulked segments with very short unelasticized and unbulkcd segmentstherebetween, this giving a particular fabric effect with theunelasticized and unbulked segments normally being predominant to theeye, whereas on the other hand it may be desirable to form a yarn withthe substantial unelasticized and unbulked segments much longer than theelasticized and bulked segments, in which case the relatively shortersegments will again have the effect of standing out visually in a fabricformed therefrom. Or it may be desirable in some instances to employ anintermittent single generator or other device which will vary thespacing of the respective incremental lengths of elasticized andunelasticized portions of the yarn during the course of processing theyarn in order to give a different novel effect in a finished fabric.

The small section of fabric F generally illustrated in FIGURE 6 is shownmerely for the purpose of illustrating schematically the overall effectto the eye of the surface of a fabric formed of a yarn according to thepresent invention. The fabric section is illustrated as formed, forexample, of loosely woven yarn having yarn according to the presentinvention in the filling thereof, the yarn being developed either beforeor after formation of the fabric. It will be apparent that variousdifferent surface effects will be obtained either before or afterformation in the fabric, the development of the yarn after formation ofthe fabric having a tendency to draw-up or pucker the fabric surface asa result of effective shrinkage of the overall length of the yarn,particularly in the areas of the elasticized and bulked segments as theylie in the fabric. However, if desired this crinkling effect may beminimized or substantially obviated by making a loosely woven or formedfabric, if such is desired. In the schematically illustrated segment offabric F the wavy intermittent lines 155 are intended to designate thesegments f the yarn which are predominant to the eye from a viewing ofthe fabric surface, and thus may indicate either the substantiallyelasticized and bulked segments or unelasticized or unbulked segments,depending upon the ratio of length of the elasticized and bulkedsegments to the substantially unelasticized and unbulked segments. Itwill be seen that the wavy lines thus designate a raised appearance whenthese portions are formed by elasticized and bulked segments, whereaswhen such is formed by substantially unelasticized and unbulked segmentsthey will be seen by the eye as relatively depressed and comparativelythin. Obviously many pattern variations and formations may be madewithin the scope of the invention as set forth herein, and it will bereadily apparent that this schematic illustration of a fabric is forillustrative purposes only.

Many other modifications and improvements will become apparent to oneskilled in the art from a reading of the foregoing description of theseillustrative embodiments without departing from the scope and spirit ofthe invention. It is, therefore, to be understood that the invention isnot to be limited to the particular illustrative embodiments, but onlyby the scope of the appended claims.

That which we claim is:

1. A novelty thermoplastic continuous multifilament yarn havingintermittently textured portions spaced in a determinate manner alongits length abruptly separated by interconnecting untextured portionstherebetween, said textured portions having while the yarn is in alongitudinally tensioned condition non-torsional crimp-effectingstresses therein, the yarn being further characterized by an overalltorsionally balanced curling in said textured portions when in a relaxedcondition.

2. A novelty yarn according to claim 1 wherein at least a portion ofsaid non-torsional stresses are latent.

3. A novelty thermoplastic continuous multifilarnent yarn havingintermittently textured portions abruptly separated by interconnectinguntextured portions, spaced in a determinate manner along its length,the said incremental cross sectional segments of said textured portionsbeing differentially stressed as measured in a cross-section-Wisedirection to impart a longitudinal curling of the yarn in said texturedportions.

4, A novelty fabric formed of yarn according to claim 1.

5. A novelty fabric according to claim 4 wherein a portion of saidnon-torsional stresses are latent.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTSMatthews et al. Mar. 3, Bolinger et al. Jan. 3, Burleson Sept. 13,Corner et al. J an. 24, Davenport et al. Sept. 12,

FOREIGN PATENTS Australia May 19, Great Britain Dec. 30,

1. A NOVELTY THERMOPLASTIC CONTINUOUS MULTIFILAMENT YARN HAVINGINTERMITTENTLY TEXTURED PORTIONS SPACED IN A DETERMINATE MANNER ALONGITS LENGTH ABRUPTLY SEPARATED BY INTERCONNECTING UNTEXTURED PORTIONSTHEREBETWEEN, SAID TEXTURED PORTIONS HAVING WHILE THE YARN IS IN ALONGI-